HIST 386 Chapter Notes - Chapter 8: Cultural Assimilation, Proxy Voting, Judith Sargent Murray
We the People
“We the People”
The United States Constitution established a system of government that aims to
derive its power from the people.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Describe the relationship between state and federal governments as established by the
Constitution
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Key Points
• By starting with the words “We the People,” the Preamble to the US
Constitution suggests that the Constitution created derived its power from the
people; yet it also, in some ways, implies exclusion of non- citizens.
• After the Civil War, the Supreme Court held that the United States a single
sovereign nation, as opposed to a collection of individually sovereign states.
• The Constitution entrusts to the federal government specific established powers
over which it has free exercise; yet much of the government’s power is
exercised concurrently between the federal and state governments.
• State constitutions address a wide variety of concerns, and are generally
modeled after the federal Constitution.
Key Terms
• constitutionality: The status of being in accord with the Constitution.
• citizen: A person legally recognized as a member of a state, and thus
possessing associated rights and obligations.
The People of the United States
The phrase “People of the United States” has sometimes been understood to mean
“citizens.” The reasoning therein is that if the political community speaking for itself in
the Preamble to the Constitution (“We the People”) includes only citizens, it
specifically, in some way, excludes non-citizens. It has also been thought to mean all
individuals who fall under the sovereign jurisdiction of the US government.
The phrase can be seen as affirming that the national government the Constitution
created derives its sovereignty from the people. It can also be seen as confirming
that the government under the Constitution was intended to govern and protect “the
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
people” directly, as one society, rather than governing only the states as political
units.
The Preamble of the Constitution: The Preamble of the Constitution of the United States begins with the
often-quoted phrase, “We the People.”
Although in some ways the meaning and implications of the Preamble may be
contested, at the least it can be said that it demonstrates that the US federal
government was not created as an agreement between or among a coalition of the
states. Instead, it was the product of “the People” with the power to govern them
directly, unlike the government under the Articles of Confederation, which only
governed them indirectly through rules imposed on the states.
Popular Nature of the Constitution
The Constitution is an act of “the People.” However, because it represents a general
social contract, there are limits on the ability of individual citizens to pursue legal
claims arising from it. For example, if a law that violates the Constitution were
enacted, it would not be possible for any individual to challenge the statute’s
constitutionality in court. Instead, only an individual negatively affected by the
unconstitutional statute could bring such a challenge. In this same vein, courts will
not answer hypothetical questions about a statute’s constitutionality. The judiciary
does not have the authority to invalidate laws solely because they are
unconstitutional, but it may declare a law unconstitutional if its operation would injure
a person’s interests.
Federal System
The United States is a union of states, each with its own individual powers. Yet this
does not mean the states have power to legislate on all matters. The federal
government has its own fields of legislation. If federal legislation conflicts with state
laws, the federal legislation prevails and the state must defer to the federal
government. The alternative—that any state may at any time leave the Union and
thus be free from Union interference in the state’s internal affairs—was attempted
during the American Civil War when several states seceded from the Union.
There are two types of federal systems: dual federalism and cooperative federalism.
Dual federalism holds that the Union and the states individually are equal. Under this
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
view of federalism, the federal government only has the powers expressly granted to
it, while the states retain all other powers. Cooperative federalism states that the
federal government is definitively superior to state governments and that it should
stretch its powers as far as possible. The United States is a union that does not
completely fit either definition. The type of federalism that prevails often depends on
who is in power at the time, and on that person’s interpretation of the Constitution.
The Constitution contains safeguards that prevent stretching federalism too far to
either extreme, and the Tenth Amendment notably reserves for state governments all
powers not expressly given to the federal government within the Constitution.
Relationship Between State and Federal Government
While each state was originally recognized as sovereign unto itself, the post-Civil War
Supreme Court held that the United States consists of only one sovereign nation with
respect to foreign affairs and international relations. In other words, the individual
states may not conduct foreign relations. Although the Constitution expressly
delegates to the federal government only some of the usual powers of sovereign
governments (e.g., power to declare war or make treaties), all such powers inherently
belong to the federal government as the country’s representative in the international
community.
Domestically, the federal government’s sovereignty means that it may perform acts—
such as entering into contracts or accepting bonds—that are typical of governmental
entities but not expressly provided for in the Constitution or other laws. Similarly, the
federal government, as an attribute of sovereignty, has the power to enforce those
powers granted to it. The Court has recognized the federal government’s supreme
power over those limited matters entrusted to it. Thus, no state may interfere with the
federal government’s operations as though its sovereignty were superior to that of the
federal government. For example, states may not interfere with the federal
government’s near-absolute discretion to sell its own real property even when that
real property is located in a certain state. The federal government exercises its
supreme power not as a unitary entity, but rather via the three branches of the
government (legislative, executive, and judicial); each of which has its own
prescribed powers and limitations under the Constitution. Additionally, the doctrine of
separation of powers functions as a limitation on each branch of the federal
government’s exercise of sovereign power.
A unique aspect of the US system of government is that, while the rest of the world
views the United States as one country, domestically, US constitutional law
recognizes a federation of state governments separate from (and not subdivisions of)
the federal government. Each is sovereign over its own affairs. Sometimes, as a
means to explain the US system of state sovereignty, the Supreme Court has even
analogized the states as being foreign countries in relation to each other. However,
each state’s sovereignty is limited by the US Constitution, which is the supreme law
of both the United States as a nation and each state. In the event of a conflict, a valid
federal law has control.
As a result, although the federal government is recognized as sovereign and has
supreme power over the matters within its control, the US constitutional system also
recognizes the concept of “state sovereignty,” wherein certain matters are
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
The united states constitution established a system of government that aims to derive its power from the people. Describe the relationship between state and federal governments as established by the. Key points: by starting with the words we the people, the preamble to the us. Key terms: constitutionality: the status of being in accord with the constitution, citizen: a person legally recognized as a member of a state, and thus possessing associated rights and obligations. The phrase people of the united states has sometimes been understood to mean. Citizens. the reasoning therein is that if the political community speaking for itself in the preamble to the constitution ( we the people ) includes only citizens, it specifically, in some way, excludes non-citizens. It has also been thought to mean all individuals who fall under the sovereign jurisdiction of the us government.
